In a strategic move to enhance environmental sustainability and operational efficiency, Universal Compressed Air (UCA) partnered with a leading waste services provider in the Southeast to design, build, own, operate and maintain a state-of-the-art blower System for wastewater pond aeration. This innovative solution, part of a five-year agreement, delivers over 20,000 scfm of low-pressure air while guaranteeing uptime, performance and significant cost savings.
“As we look to the future, we remain dedicated to developing solutions that enhance productivity, reduce energy consumption and support a greener planet,” said Rick Kowey, Executive Vice President and COO, Universal Compressed Air. “This project is a testament to what’s possible when innovation meets sustainability.”
Project Overview: Overhaul the System
It was clear: The customer’s aeration blower was faltering, and, in turn, its entire aeration system was underperforming. Unfortunately, when a wastewater aeration system is underperforming there’s a risk of a septic condition developing. When that happens, incomplete conversions can take place and you can literally smell the problem.
Major components of the aeration blower system would go offline and it could take days or weeks to bring them back online. Site resources were strained and the ability to manage system downtime was a major drain on the customer’s resources. A significant system overhaul was needed if the site was going to meet its corporate and community commitments.
The project’s goal was straightforward: Replace the customer’s unreliable and inefficient aeration blower system with a new, highly dependable, energy-optimized solution, all without interrupting production. To achieve this, the provider planned and executed a seamless transition by installing and commissioning the new aeration blowers one by one. This included the engagement of the provider’s Project Management team with the customer’s Operations team to ensure that as new aeration blowers were brought online they performed as needed in a stable condition for a best practices prove-out period prior to the shutdown of legacy blowers.
The modular Blower System, owned and operated by UCA, produces between 15,000 and 25,000 scfm of low-pressure air supporting wastewater pond aeration. This precision delivery of low-pressure air ensures critical biological processes continue uninterrupted, breaking down organic matter efficiently.
To meet the customer’s high-reliability expectations, the provider deployed an N+1 blower system. If N equals the amount of normal or typical capacity needed to support demand, N+1 indicates an additional component – an aeration blower unit, in this case, added to support a single failure or required maintenance on a given component. During normal operation, one of the installed aeration blowers is always waiting in reserve as a backup. This redundancy philosophy plays a crucial role in the system’s design. Each piece of equipment and instrument has a backup, meaning no single point of failure can cause the aeration blower system to miss meeting the demand requirement. This level of redundancy provides a high level of certainty and confidence the plant can maintain operational flow rates throughout the life of the contract.
The completed installation of an aeration blower system.
Technical Breakdown: Inside the Blower System
The Blower System includes seven positive displacement rotary screw aeration blowers, each rated over 400 hp, with a total delivered flow capacity in excess of 30,000 scfm at an operating pressure of 10-12 psig. These aeration blowers were chosen for their ability to provide consistent, oil-free air across varying flow rates, a crucial feature for wastewater aeration where demand fluctuates throughout the day. This selection marks a significant upgrade from the site’s legacy aeration blowers, offering significantly improved efficiency and game-changing reliability.
The Blower System is paired with an advanced auxiliary support system, including variable frequency drives (VFDs) and an advanced control system.
The VFDs allow the unit to automatically adjust the aeration blower motor speed in real time which in turn modulates the aeration blowers’ discharge airflow production to closely match the aeration system’s demand. This ability to match airflow production with aeration demand is core to designing a highly efficient system.
The advanced control system manages dissolved oxygen based on the customer defined setpoint. UCA’s monitoring systems typically include integrated pressure sensors, flow meters and smart control algorithms deployed to optimize aeration blower performance, reduce energy use and prevent pressure surges.
Waste heat or excess heat is often an unused byproduct in the blower/compression cycle. Depending on the project economics, a heat recovery option may be included in the product design. Heat recovery allows for the recapture of excess heat from aeration blower operation, repurposing it for on-site processes or facility heating, contributing to the plant’s overall energy savings.
Cost Savings and Environmental Impact
The new aeration blower system is projected to save the customer over $1 million during the five-year contract. These savings stem from improved energy efficiency and reduced downtime. The high-performance aeration blowers consume significantly less electricity than the customer’s outdated legacy system. Plus, the N+1 modular design with built-in redundancies ensures maximizing uptime while minimizing the likelihood of a costly interruption.
Additional savings come from the optimized system design and maintenance reallocation. Smart controls and real-time monitoring keep airflow and pressure at optimal levels, avoiding wasteful over-aeration. Also, all system monitoring, planned and unplanned maintenance and total system upkeep is managed by a team of operators and maintenance personnel.
Beyond cost savings, the environmental impact is equally impressive. The enhanced aeration process reduces greenhouse gas emissions by lowering energy consumption and supporting better wastewater treatment, ultimately contributing to cleaner water release.
The completed installation of an aeration blower system.
Managed Maintenance for Industrial Customers
This aeration blower project reflects a commitment to delivering sustainable, reliable solutions through the PIPELINE AIR™ plan, which offers a fully managed compressed air (blowers are just low-pressure compressors) utility model tailored to large-scale industrial users. This plan guarantees reliability, as the provider designs, owns and maintains the aeration blower system, eliminating operational risks for customers. It also guarantees performance, since customers gain real-time monitoring of flow, pressure and dewpoint to ensure their aeration blower system always operates at peak efficiency. Finally, it delivers fixed monthly costs, since the model includes no capital investment or unexpected maintenance fees, only a predictable, transparent payment structure.
When operational burdens are removed, customers are able to focus on their core businesses while reaping the financial and environmental benefits of optimized compressed air systems.
Building a Sustainable Future
The successful installation and startup of this aeration blower system combine innovative technology, thoughtful system design and a steadfast commitment to sustainability. The provider not only delivered immediate results for the waste services customer, but also laid the groundwork for long-term environmental and economic benefits.
Sam Gooldy, Senior Manager, Marketing and Product Development for UCA.
About the Author
Sam Gooldy is the Senior Manager, Marketing and Product Development for UCA. With over 25 years of experience in the compressed air and blower industries, including more than 15 years in leadership roles at Cameron and Ingersoll Rand, Gooldy brings a blend of applications aptitude, product vision and a commitment to innovation. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering and an MBA.
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Universal Compressed Air’s headquarters in Center Valley, PA.
About Universal Compressed Air
Universal Compressed Air specializes in developing, designing, building and maintaining cutting-edge compressed air solutions for a wide range of industrial and high-tech applications. Its PIPELINE AIR™ approach removes operational burdens from customers while guaranteeing reliability, energy savings and reduced environmental impact. For more information, visit https://ucaair.com.
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